Iraq and Iran to 'forget past'

The Muslem News (UK) ^ | 27-01-2002 | Editorial Staff

[vannrox]

Iraq and Iran to 'forget past'

27-01-2002

Thirteen years after they ended an eight-year war, Iran and Iraq have taken steps to resolve some of the outstanding issues hampering closer relations - primarily the fate of prisoners of war. After talks in Tehran, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri and his Iranian counterpart, Kamal Kharrazi, spoke of their willingness to leave behind the legacy of the conflict.


"Iran is seriously seeking to close this chapter which has lasted long years," Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted Foreign Minister Kharrazi as telling Mr Sabri.

And Mr Sabri "reiterated that his country would do its utmost to do away with the bitter record of the past relations between the two countries," IRNA said.

Iran and Iraq have yet to normalise ties after the war which left nearly one million people dead.


'Close the file'


IRNA said the ministers had promised to resolve all the humanitarian issues in their troubled relations, but gave no details.


However, Mr Kharrazi said closing "the file of humanitarian problems" would have "very positive repercussions on the relations between the two countries".

In the past week, Iran released almost 700 Iraqi prisoners of war.

That matched an earlier move by Baghdad, when it reopened its borders to allow Iranian Muslim pilgrims to visit Shiite shrines in Iraq.


Obstacle to relations


The fate of thousands of POWs is still one of the main issues blocking full normalisation of relations between the two sides, who are still at odds on how many prisoners each other holds.

Tehran has repeatedly denied Baghdad's charges that it has some 29,000 Iraqi prisoners. Iraq says another 60,000 are still missing.

One million Iraqis and Iranians are believed to have died in the war


Iran accuses Iraq of detaining about 3,000 of its soldiers, but Baghdad denies holding any Iranian POWs.

Both countries also accuse each other of harbouring opposition activists.

Iran regularly denounces Iraq for backing its main opposition People's Mujahideen Organisation, while Baghdad accuses Tehran for giving support to Iraqi Shiite Muslim dissidents.

[vannrox]

War makes strange bedfellows...

[anniegetyourgun]

While this was predictable, it is interesting to see things aligning....

[xm177e2]

What if the "Axis of Evil" was a self-fulfilling prophecy? Oh well, we'll just have to invade both countries at the same time.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Iraq and Iran to 'forget past'

Israel on the move has a way of doing this. But I trust Iran and Iraq to screw each other over sometime in the future. Both nations, like the rest of the Arab world, have all the intelligence and integrity of the average crack whore.

[BrooklynGOP]

Crack whores world wide are offended, I am sure.

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

Both nations, like the rest of the Arab world, have all the intelligence and integrity of the average crack whore.

Gee......you're so generously perceptive......

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

might as well kill 2 birds with 1 stone(the thermonuclear kind)

[denydenydeny]

'forget past'

Problem is, neither of these governments have much of a future.

[Dallas]

Give the Sheites/Sunnis a common enemy, and..................

[besieged]

Nah... let's help those guys find "unity"!!! I propose we "fuse" them together with a good thermo-nuclear fusion bomb. I bet they will never leave each other's arms!

[alloysteel]

Nothing unites two factions, who have been unable to settle their differences before, like confrontation by a superior force which can whup their respective fundaments separately or together, and means to carry out the promise. Iraq and Iran do have a choice, you know. They can start right away by respecting the polite request of the United States to cease and desist from their active and covert support of terrorist movements wherever they may exist in the world.

Or not, and be on the receiving end of the consequences of their decision. Do they understand the concept behind a sausage grinder? Would they care to re-learn the lesson first-hand?

[fire_eye]

But I trust Iran and Iraq to screw each other over sometime in the future. Both nations, like the rest of the Arab world, have all the intelligence and integrity of the average crack whore.

That much?

The Arabs have a saying:

Me against my brother,
Me and my brother against my cousin,
Me, my brother, and my cousin against the Infidel.

(That last'n means you'n me here, Earl, so, y'all stay locked 'n' loaded, now, y'hear?)

Once again, this is THEM, not us here benighted right-wing xenophobes, saying all they know how to do is start a fight. I'm tired of 'em...
I'm hoping this 9/11 incident will give us the resolve to make this the last fight they'll ever pick with *anybody*.

[Orangedog]

You would think that Iran would have realized by now that a pat on the back from Iraq usually involves a knife.

[Orion78]

What if the "Axis of Evil" was a self-fulfilling prophecy? Oh well, we'll just have to invade both countries at the same time.

---

"US policymakers should urgently re-examine their assumptions about the 'progress' of Russia and China 'towards democracy'. They should take account of Sino-Russian strategy and should recognise that the long-term strategic, political and economic threat comes from a Sino-Russian axis and associated participants like North Korea, Iran, Iraq and Syria."

[Sawdring]

Here is your Iran and Iraq getting together as allies from another thread you had written on.

[Orion78]

Iraq-Iran railway (1/8/02)
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Islamic Oil Could Be Effective Weapon, Iran Says (4/1/02)